While still a member of Split Enz, he began a solo career, scoring the two hits "Fraction Too Much Friction" and "Made My Day" in 1983; he left the band in early 1984, briefly returning for their farewell tour later that year.

Finn has participated in various collaborations with other artists, including former Split Enz members, and has also composed scores for films and musicals.

Brian Timothy Finn was born on 25 June 1952 in Te Awamutu, New Zealand,[1] weighing 10 pounds at birth, to parents Richard and Mary.

Finn had his first success away from Split Enz in 1981 when his discarded demo "They Won't Let My Girlfriend Talk to Me" became a top 10 hit for Australian band Jimmy and the Boys.

[1] This met with major commercial success both in Australia and New Zealand, and yielded hit song "Fraction Too Much Friction",[1] which revealed a more rhythm-based sound than Split Enz had been known for.

After contributing four songs to Split Enz album Conflicting Emotions, Finn left the band permanently in June 1984, to focus on a solo career.

Though Big Canoe reached number three on the New Zealand charts, it failed to become the international breakthrough that Finn or record company Virgin had hoped.

Finn had a small part in Australian film The Coca-Cola Kid alongside then-girlfriend Greta Scacchi, and a larger one in her Italian-shot romance La Donna della Luna (The Moon Woman).

[1] The album yielded strong reviews and the New Zealand hit "Parihaka", based on a Māori village known for its campaign of passive resistance to European occupiers.

In 2000, the album Together in Concert: Live was released, featuring Finn, and fellow New Zealand singer/songwriters Bic Runga, and Dave Dobbyn.

[6] As England and New Zealand went into COVID-19 lockdown in 2020, Finn and Phil Manzanera began working collaboratively on an album Caught by the Heart.

In 2022, Tim Finn involved himself in the Waiata / Anthems project producing a Māori language cover of the track "Six Months in a Leaky Boat" (as "Ono Marama Takerehāia").